The spokeswoman of the Popular Party (PP) in the City Council of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Jimena Delgado, presented on Monday a balance of the decade of socialist governments (2015-2025), which she described as «a lost decade» by indicating that «more money than ever» has been managed and what exists is a city «dirtier and more insecure.»
Specifically, Delgado pointed out that the municipal budget has grown by 68.7 percent in the last ten years, going from 308 million in 2015 to over 520 million in 2025, however, she lamented that «this increase in resources has not translated into a tangible improvement» in the quality of life of citizens, as reported by the PP in a press release.
«With more money than ever, what we have is a city that is dirtier, more insecure, with essential contracts expired and neighborhoods abandoned,» she pointed out.
Delgado referred to the budget execution, emphasizing that in 2024, it «barely exceeded 67 percent,» which in her opinion «confirms the paralysis of a city council that does not invest or manage, that keeps millions in banks while the city deteriorates.»
In this sense, she stated that one of the «clearest examples of this deterioration» is found in the state of the Cleaning Service, as she pointed out that «despite the budget allocated to this area having increased by 83 percent since 2015, reaching 71.7 million euros, today Las Palmas de Gran Canaria has 302 fewer workers in this service than a decade ago.»
She added that the main contracts for Street Cleaning and Solid Waste Collection «have been expired for years,» without the current government led by Carolina Darias having «tendered a solution.» In this regard, she pointed out that the city «has gone from boasting the platinum broom with the PP to being singled out as the fifth dirtiest in Spain according to the OCU, while neighbors and citizen platforms organize themselves to clean their neighborhoods.»
IN SECURITY «ALARMING SETBACK»
Regarding public safety, the data reflect an «alarming setback,» as the Local Police «suffers a deficit of 260 agents, with barely 1.4 police officers per 1,000 inhabitants, and up to 100 medical leaves per month.»
In the last decade, «only 113 new agents have been incorporated,» a figure that she emphasized is «insufficient» to compensate for retirements and leaves.
Regarding the firefighters’ staff, she indicated that it has gone from 104″ to only 89 effective, forcing the closure of fire stations and leaving the city without the capacity» to respond to emergencies. She also pointed out that the «perception of insecurity is growing in areas like Parque San Telmo or Santa Catalina, where robberies and altercations are increasing,» to lament that the city council «acts as if nothing is happening.»
Jimena Delgado also referred to citizen service and the internal functioning of the city council itself, stating that the municipal staff «has decreased by 565 workers since 2015, while over 600 vacancies remain unfilled.»
In this regard, she criticized that instead of reinforcing essential services, the municipal government «has chosen to increase managerial positions,» as she pointed out that the mayor of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Carolina Darias, «has not strengthened the administration, but dismantled it.»
Additionally, the Popular Party has also warned about the «fiscal waste to which citizens have been subjected,» as in these years the city council «has constantly raised the tax pressure» with the new garbage fee –150 euros per household–, the «increase in the water rate by an average of 50 euros per year, the elimination of discounts for the Vehicle Tax for vehicles over 25 years old, and the increase in sports fees.»
In exchange, she added, there has been a «symbolic reduction» in the Property Tax that «barely amounts to 20 euros per year per family.» Delgado pointed out that while the government «keeps 463 million in reserves and generates 14 million in bank interests, it tightens the neighbor’s wallet with taxes that are not reflected in decent services,» stating that Darias’ fiscal model «is a copy of Pedro Sánchez’s: collecting more to manage worse.»
Finally, she addressed the housing crisis facing the city, where in the last decade «not a single public housing unit has been delivered to new applicants,» and with over 25,000 empty properties, rental prices «have risen by 82% and sales prices by 42%,» citing data from the main real estate portals in this regard.
«The PSOE promised 1,000 homes in the current term and in two years has not delivered a single one. Their only response has been to request that the entire city be declared a tension zone, without offering any real solution,» she concluded.
Lastly, Delgado mentioned the «budgetary debacle» that the MetroGuagua project has represented, announced in 2017 with a forecast of four years and a cost of 100 million euros, however, it «has exceeded 180 million in expenses and not a single operational stretch is in place.»
Currently, the European Public Prosecutor’s Office is investigating the management of EIB funds, and the city council has had to pay almost 4 million in interest, leading her to consider that the MetroGuagua «is now the monument to socialism’s failure in this city. A decade of construction, zero solutions, and millions buried in ditches that lead nowhere.»
For Delgado, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria «cannot afford more time under an exhausted model, which has turned its largest budgets in history into the worst stage of municipal management.»
